Catching up with actor Don Cheadle

Thursday

Jan 10, 2013 at 10:56 AMJan 10, 2013 at 10:59 AM

Known for roles in movie franchises — Iron Man 2 and 3 and Ocean’s Eleven and Twelve — and quieter Oscar-noticed films such as Hotel Rwanda and Crash, Don Cheadle, 48, now stars in his own TV series. House of Lies returns Sunday, January 13 at 10 ET/PT on Showtime. Here, Cheadle chats with USA WEEKEND on the show’s set.

by Gayle Jo Carter/USA WEEKEND

Catching up with Don Cheadle

By Gayle Jo Carter for USA WEEKEND

Known for roles in movie franchises — Iron Man 2 and 3 and Ocean’s Eleven and Twelve — and quieter Oscar-noticed films such as Hotel Rwanda and Crash, Don Cheadle, 48, now stars in his own TV series. House of Lies returns Sunday, January 13 at 10 ET/PT on Showtime. Here, Cheadle chats with USA WEEKEND on the show’s set.

You play a liar on TV. In real life, are you a good liar? “I’m a terrible liar. I think you want the truth. I would hate to ask a question like ‘Do I look good?’ and have somebody say yes and then walk out of the house and everyone’s like, ‘Wow, really?’. I want the straight skinny all the time. So I try to give it.”

Can you tell if someone is lying to you? “I don’t really have that good of a barometer on that either. I tend to take people at face value until I have some reason to believe otherwise.”

Is parenting teenagers more difficult than when they were younger? “The bigger challenge is that next year my daughter [Ayana, 18] is going to college and a couple years behind her, her sister [Imani, 16]. It’s more that you’re on the launch pad to trying to make sure that they can do what they need to do once they’re out of there.”

Any other parts or projects you’d like to be part of or make happen? “I really want to be part of a modern horror story. Not like slasher/gore, [something] really scary because I haven’t been scared in a movie in a long time. Paranormal Activity isn’t what I’m talking about — something that’s really Exorcist scary. I want to do a kung fu movie too. There’s a lot of martial arts movies that I like, but I love what Kung Fu Hustle did for both the genre and the lure of it all.”

Do you have a favorite movie? “I’m kind of all over the map. I’d be hard pressed to come up with one. I think Catch-22 is pretty good although that’s a very sort of arcane reference; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Sounder.”

Was there one movie you saw that made you want to be an actor? “No, it’s probably more about being a latch-key kid and watching a bunch of bad TV.”

Is there a secret to the career longevity you’ve had? “If there is, I don’t know what it is. It helps to be lucky.”

For more with Don Cheadle, look inside the January 11-13 issue of USA WEEKEND Magazine in our Weekend (Friday) print edition.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.